. >> yeah, and he certainly came out fighting in this interview with russia today. english language russian tv station. not only that absolute refusal to resign and seek exile that you just heard. but also a stark warning to the the west, not to try to intervene militarily in syria. listen. >> i think the price of this invasion, if it happens, is going to be -- whole world are can't afford if you have a problem in syria -- in the region and coexistent let's say. it will have domino effect. effect the world from the atlantic to the pacific. and, you know, the implication [inaudible] >> of course, u.s. officials have no appetite whatsoever for any kind of military action in syria on that at least president assad is correct. russians are frankly still the problem here. >> absolutely. more support for assad from russian officials. in this case today, the foreign minister sergei said that the west simply has to accept that assad is not going to step aside. and if western powers keep insisting that the price is, as he put it, assad's head, it will simply cost more syrian